Two weeks after tying for first at the Sonoma State Spring Invitational, junior Naoki Easterday followed up with another top-three finish at the RJGA Men’s Palm Valley Classic in Goodyear, Arizona.
Easterday ended the competition in solo third place, carding a 204 (-12), finishing only three strokes behind the leader, senior Cole Beyer of Colorado Mesa University. The third-place result extends his outstanding streak of top-five finishes to five consecutively.
He earned his second straight CCAA Men’s Golfer of the Week honor for his standout performance in Goodyear. Easterday split the honors on Mar. 26, and this is his first time outright winning the award.
“I’m definitely hitting and swinging it better for the spring season compared to the fall season, but I’d say just committing to my shots and taking it one shot at a time has really helped,” Easterday said.
As a collective, the Wildcats finished in second place with a team score of 837 (-27), earning them their best and lowest score of the season. This marks the second time Chico State has gone below 20-under par, the first being at the Wildcat Classic in Corning.
“The final nine holes on Monday were outstanding,” head coach Nick Green said. “We made 14 birdies, an eagle and no bogeys, but most importantly, on day two, we didn’t have any doubles, and that had been something that’s plagued us recently.”
Impressively, the Wildcats tallied 65 birdies—the second most in the tournament and just four behind champion Midwestern State.
“The greens were actually pretty terrible,” Green said. “So it really was, as I explained to them, the ability to have patience and not allow themselves to be overly frustrated with it because everyone is going to be playing on the same surfaces.
However, it wasn’t just Easterday that helped the Wildcats secure their best result of the season in one of their most competitive fields thus far. Senior Travis Miller had his best performance of the Spring segment, finishing in a tie for eighth, carding a 209 (-7).
“It was great to see,” Green said. “Before we left for Arizona he shot 67, 70, and a 71 and played four really good rounds in a row and found something with his ball striking and putting so you’re just kind of waiting for him to have that kind of week.”
Junior Giuliano Kaminski put together his best trio of rounds since the Western Washington Invitational earlier this past fall. Kaminski carded a 212 (-4) and finished in a tie for 16th amongst eight other competitors.
“I think that’s been one of the biggest things for us, that’s been the fourth different lineup in the last four tournaments, and we’re just trying to find consistency from three through five,” Green said.
Chico State’s final regular season competition concludes today in Turlock for the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational, hosted by Stanislaus State.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the rounds live, visit the Wildcat home page.
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
